Jay Wilson, the Game Director of Diablo III, has taken to the game’s official blog to explain some of the changes that have delayed the game’s release.

Blizzard is notorious for their iterative approach to game design, and Diablo fans have had to endure a development cycle that has tried the patience of even the most patient gamers. The game was originally slated to be released at the end of last year, but in September, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime announced that the release window had been pushed back to early 2012.

It turns out that the delay was caused in part by the decision to introduce major changes to some of the game’s core elements. The Nephalem Cube and the Cauldron of Jordan have been removed entirely. The former allowed players to break down items to obtain raw materials for use in crafting, while the latter let them sell goods without visiting a merchant in town.

They were originally introduced because the designers wanted to limit the amount of time players spent in town, but now that players can return to town whenever they want, these items were no longer deemed necessary. “It’s a good idea to break up combat so that players have a moment to evaluate their gear and crafting options before venturing back out,” Wilson said.

Another big change is the removal of the Mystic artisan. Artisans were touted as NPCs who would follow the player from town to town performing various services. Unlike regular NPC merchants, artisans would be able to level up, which in turn would improve the services they could provide. Like everything else in Diablo III, the Mystic changed over the course of development, but she ended up having the power to ‘enhance’ items by a random magical effect.

Ultimately, the designers came to realize that the enhancement system essentially duplicated the effect of the socket/gem system. “It would prolong the release of the game even further to go back to the drawing board and differentiate it, so we’ll revisit the Mystic and enhancements at a later time,” Wilson said. Like the other artisans, the Mystic played a role in the game’s story, which complicated her removal.

Character attributes have also undergone major revision. Attack, Precision, and Defense have been removed, replaced by Strength, Dexterity, and Intellect. Vitality remains untouched. As Wilson explained, “Armor is taking over for what Defense used to provide, Physical Resist will take over for Armor, and Chance to Crit will fill in for Precision.”

Furthermore, certain attributes will provide class-specific bonuses to bonuses. Strength will help the Barbarian, Dexterity will help the Demon Hunter and Monk, and Intellect will help the Wizard and Witch Doctor.

Wilson also announced a host of minor changes:

• Scrolls of Identify, long a feature of the Diablo series, are now gone. Instead of using a scroll, players will simply click on an unidentified item, and it will be identified after a brief time delay.
• Common items will no longer be salvageable. Originally, the designers believed that every item in the game should be useful. Common items (which are often referred to as “white” items because their names are shown in white) are not usually worth equipping, but at least players could salvage them for their raw materials. Those materials could then be used to craft powerful items. On reflection, the designers decided that having useless items was not necessarily a bad thing. “Diablo II captured the loot-piñata feel by dropping a lot of crap, mostly arrows and bolts, and we of course still very much want that feeling of item explosions. To do that we need to be able to balance the value of items to how many we’re throwing at you,” Wilson said.
• The Stone of Recall is now called the Town Portal. This is basically a case of the designers deciding to call a spade a spade.
• Character statistics will now be displayed alongside the Inventory screen. This will hopefully make it easier to figure out how items will affect you.
• The fifth quick slot button is now a dedicated potion button. Unlike the earlier games, health potions will play a relatively minor role in Diablo III. Instead, players will replenish their health through health globes that are dropped by enemies, but cannot be picked up for later use. Although health potions now have a somewhat lengthy cool-down time, they can still save a life, so it was decided to make them easier to access.

Fan reaction to Wilson’s announcement has been mixed. The changes themselves are not necessarily controversial, but their timing is. The fact that the designers are still tinkering with core game mechanics has led some fans to accuse them of lacking focus. It certainly did not help that Wilson also indicated that skills and runestones are undergoing revision as well.

Naturally, many fans are wondering what effect these changes will have on Blizzard’s stated goal of releasing Diablo III in “early 2012.” However, it has been confirmed that they have already been implemented in the game, and the vast majority of them will be rolled out to beta testers in a patch expected within the next few days. However, given Blizzard’s track record, this may not be the last word on the subject.

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Conan has been a well-recognized name throughout the genre of action, ranging from books to videogames.  First conceived in 1932 by writer Robert E. Howard, Conan quickly became an iconic figure in fantasy novels then evolved into comic books in the 1950s.

In the 1980s Conan attacked the big screen being played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Now after 30 years after the making of the original movies and more than 8 years in the making, Conan the Barbarian is back on screen as he fights to avenge his slaughtered tribe.

The focus of fan’s attention has turned to the next actor that will play Conan.  Many believe that Schwarzenegger’s shoes can never be filled when it comes to playing with Conan.

After a long seven-year stretch in the development stage, the director Marcus Nispel had found his Conan in Jason Momoa.  Jason Momoa was a model though he is more famous for his acting.  HBO’s recent series, Game of Thrones, featured Momoa as the barbarian king Khal Drogo.  This character is a Conan-esque character that Momoa plays skillfully. Based on his previous work, Momoa will definitely fit the shoes that Schwarzenegger left behind or at least give him a run for his money.

Conan’s father was to be played by Mickey Rourke, but he had left the project for Dawn of War due to how long Conan was stalled.  Instead, Ron Pearlman, mainly known for playing roles like Hellboy, and One in City Of Lost Children, will take the part of Conan’s father.

The director, Marcus Nispel has directed mostly horror movies, using a kind of grey and dark color to them.  Some titles he directed include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13^th, and Frankenstein.  With such a gritty look to his movies, the movie seems to be turning down a really gory path.

Many of Nispel films are known to be gory.  So with a lot of action sequences in Conan, one can only imagine the amount of red dye that will be flying everywhere across the screen.  The grit, the blood and the harsh colors will give Conan a more horror feel than a straight action flick would have.

The movie has had many complications as it began developing.  The idea floated around Warner Brothers for a little more than seven years when Nu Image and Millennium Films obtained the rights in 2007.  Bringing on LionsGate to distribute the film along with a new revision of the script, Conan was finally beginning to take shape.

The principal photography began on March 15, 2010 and ended June 5, 2010.  With the film waiting to be release Conan fans are sure to want to catch the action, August 19^th.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.facebook.com/ConanTheBarbarian

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